Su Cheng sprinted all the way back. After circling halfway around the plaza, she saw the mayor and Charles from a distance.
The mother and son were talking on the porch of the town hall. She deliberately made some noise to indicate that she had no intention of eavesdropping before approaching them.
The silver-haired young man was the first to turn his head. Noticing the anxiety on the girl's face, he asked, "...What's wrong?"
Su Cheng looked around. "I overheard a conversation."
She gathered her thoughts and recounted the matter exactly as it happened, without adding any subjective emotions or speculations.
She knew that Iron Cage Town would be burned to the ground by so-called bandits, and the mayor's family would all die tragically because of it, but the Waynes in front of her were unaware of this.
Moreover, it was debatable whether they would even believe her words.
Who knew if she was sent by the Holy Church or the Secret Cult to deliberately mislead them with certain information, forcing them to make a specific decision?
"Olina said that?" The mayor frowned slightly. "Regarding the Blood Tree Crystal, we've held many meetings to discuss it. Everyone authorized her to negotiate, to act as our representative to secure the most favorable deal—a contract that could safeguard the people's livelihood as much as possible, not to—"
Isa closed her eyes. "Iron Cage Town is not qualified to be the prey fought over by two starving wolves. She might destroy this place."
Su Cheng breathed a slight sigh of relief.
At least the mayor seemed to believe her.
"...Furthermore, it involves the Blood Tree Crystal. This item itself is extremely sensitive."
Charles said in a low voice, "Mother, perhaps we can talk to—"
"This is not for you to interfere with," Isa interrupted her eldest son. "You go back first. I will summon the clan leaders and the merchants' guild to discuss this together."
After saying that, she turned to Su Cheng and bowed earnestly. "Your Excellency, thank you once again."
With that, she left in a hurry.
Su Cheng looked at Charles. "Why does she think you shouldn't get involved? Aren't you the best fighter in your town?"
"...Those are two different things," Charles replied without any resentment. "According to the rules, each family can only have one representative participate in the council. Mother just doesn't want to complicate matters."
Su Cheng thought for a moment. "How about sending your younger brothers and sisters to school in Golden Amber City? The schools there aren't as good as the ones in the imperial capital, but at least it's not far from here, and—"
"You think something is going to happen?" Charles immediately asked. "So you want them to move away?"
Su Cheng shrugged.
He fell silent for a few seconds. "What about the others?"
Su Cheng crossed her arms. "Do you think I'm a good person?"
"...I think you are, otherwise you wouldn't need to worry about them."
"Alright, let's assume I am, but there is a limit to that. Many people die every day in this world; I won't care about every single one of them."
Su Cheng said calmly, "That's just the kind of person I am. As for the people in your town, you can go warn them. What they do is their own business. But your younger siblings, I can pay to get them into those schools, and I can go talk to the teachers there. With my level of magic, I am more than qualified to be their recommender. As for you, as long as you leave this town, you can easily make a lot of money or seize power beyond your imagination. When that time comes, you can repay me however you like, or not repay me at all. Either way, you've taught me a lot."
The silver-haired young man looked at her with a slight frown. He seemed to want to say something but didn't know where to start, so he could only remain silent.
After a long while.
"...Mother might not agree to send the children away."
Charles said softly, "Because it would cause panic among the townspeople."
Su Cheng looked at him expressionlessly.
"But I will do it, because compared to those people, I care more about my family."
He spoke in a firm tone, "What can Mother do to me anyway? She can't exactly kill me, right? So we'll do as you say. Let's go back first, and I'll have them pack their things."
Charles found his younger siblings playing wildly in the plaza, bought them various snacks, and coaxed the children back home.
Su Cheng did not participate in the conversation between the siblings. She simply returned to her room, pondering the so-called blood of the Ancient Gods.
She had mentioned this part to the mayor, but the mayor gave absolutely no response.
Whether it was because there were more pressing issues, or she was deliberately avoiding it—
This matter was definitely quite complicated.
Ancient Gods.
False gods of the void.
These two titles described the exact same existence.
Moreover, these things were taboo. Neither the Holy Church nor the Secret Cult allowed the spread of related knowledge.
Judging from these two terms, it seemed more like they had undergone some kind of transition, so the former Ancient Gods were crowned with the title of false gods.
Su Cheng leaned back on the sofa, closing her eyes to think, but suddenly heard a strange, faint noise.
The moment she opened her eyes, the shadows on the carpet twisted at the same time, as if crumpled by an invisible hand, and the shadow cast by the coffee table bulged out into sharp angles.
A short, thin figure suddenly darted out from the dark shadows, the short blade in his hand gleaming with a faint blue toxic light as he lunged through the air.
Su Cheng: "..."
Without a second thought, she immediately teleported and simultaneously cast a severing spell.
The person probably thought she was asleep. Seeing her open her eyes, he was already stunned, but he still maintained his intended attack.
Immediately after, two invisible rifts slashed across the room, cleanly severing the assassin's arms.
Even after suffering such an injury, the assassin did not scream, but immediately dove toward the floor.
—This was a user of shadow magic.
Once he made contact with the shadows on the ground again, he would very likely use them to escape.
In the next second, a streak of silvery-white light shot over, piercing through the assassin's spine and firmly pinning him to the ground.
Chains condensed from battle aura instantly unfurled, covering and piercing the assassin's body like a net, causing the flow of magic within him to stagnate.
Su Cheng turned her head to look at the silver-haired young man at the door. "...I was planning to let him go so I could track down his boss."
This person was ninety percent likely sent by the Assassin's Guild. He probably had no personal grudge against her and was just fulfilling a commission.
Even as she said this, she had already cast Wind Perception. Several streams of smoky cyan wind leapt out through the cracks in the window, swiftly rushing in all directions.
The Wayne family's mansion was on high ground, surrounded by hilly grassy slopes. There were no other houses in the immediate vicinity, only the occasional passerby leaving the town.
At this time of day, there shouldn't be many people around.
But if someone had guided the assassin, or was impatiently waiting for the assassin's report, they might be waiting nearby.
This was just a guess.
Su Cheng didn't hold out much hope. Regardless, they could still interrogate the assassin.
But she soon heard a noise.
She heard the sound of someone pacing back and forth anxiously—
Su Cheng vanished from her spot.
She was very familiar with the surrounding environment and teleported directly behind a warehouse hundreds of meters away. Sure enough, a short, plump, brown-haired man was hiding there.
The man looked to be in his forties and was dressed quite affluently, wearing silk and several gemstone rings on both hands.
"You!"
He was startled by the sudden appearance of the figure. When he got a clear look, his face instantly turned deathly pale. "Y-y-you!"
"Yes, it is me. I am not dead," Su Cheng crossed her arms. "Are you disappointed?"
Thump!
Charles appeared beside her, throwing the armless assassin onto the ground. He looked at the brown-haired man with a dark expression, "Why?"
"Charles!" the man cried out as if seeing a savior. "Your mother said it at the meeting... Although she did not name names, how many people in this town can eavesdrop on the conversation between the envoys of the Holy Church and the Secret Cult without being discovered? Apart from you and your mother, there are hardly any who could do it!"
He said this and looked at the foreigner in front of him. "It can only be her! She knows too much, about the Blood Tree Crystal, about the Blood of the Ancient Gods—that is heresy! This is a secret that could get our entire town slaughtered to silence us! What if she tells others? What would those radical clerics do?"
Su Cheng could not help but frown. "Do I even need to say anything? The two envoys who do business with you already know, do they not?"
"That is different!" the man retorted. "There are many factions within the Holy Church and the Secret Cult, and their attitudes towards these matters vary... But you, you are a mage who practices heretical sorcery! Who knows if you are a disguised wanted criminal! Or a follower of some false god?!"
Su Cheng sneered and turned to look at Charles. "Obviously you know him, and your mother knows him. Now I am going to kill him. For the sake of what you have taught me, I am letting you know."
Charles said nothing.
The brown-haired man froze for a moment. His face showed shock first, then turned to anger. "Charles! Do you not understand? She knows too much..."
The silver-haired young man stood motionless where he was.
The brown-haired man began to curse loudly, "You black-hearted bastard, Charles Wayne, I held you when you were a baby! Do you know how much I have helped your mother—"
Charles glanced at him and turned to walk away.
"No!" the man finally seemed to realize the problem. "No, no, no, my child is still young—"
Then his neck was severed by a wind blade.
Su Cheng looked at the corpse on the ground, then at the cold profile of the silver-haired young man, suddenly feeling that it was all so dull.
She took out a handful of gold coins and tossed them into his pocket. "This money is enough for you to buy a small house in Golden Amber City."
Charles grabbed her wrist. "Where are you going?"
"I do not think he is the only one with that kind of thought," Su Cheng said calmly. "So I am leaving."
He looked a bit panicked, his long fingers tightening slightly around the girl's wrist. "But—"
"Have you ever thought, Charles," Su Cheng looked up at him, "you have stayed here all your life, you have not met many people, so you might think I am special. Perhaps I am not the kind of person you truly admire."
A sorrowful emotion appeared in his grayish-blue eyes. "...And what about you? You must have been to many places and met many people. I am just like some local specialty wine from a small town. You take a sip when you have the chance, and when you have had enough, you leave. From then on, you will at most occasionally think of me."
Su Cheng let out a laugh. "You are indeed very unique, though not quite in the way you think, but my favorite wine would never speak to me like this."
"Because he knows you will always be thinking of him," the silver-haired youth sighed, resting his forehead on his hand. "No matter where you are, no matter what you are doing."
The smile on Su Cheng's lips gradually faded, revealing an undisguised look of disappointment. "What use is that, anyway."
She paused for a moment. "...Besides, that does not mean I do not like you."
Charles looked at her speechlessly, seemingly wondering how she could give such a shameless answer so calmly.
Su Cheng spread her hands. "Does saying this make it easier for you to face our parting? Maybe if you think I am more of a jerk, you will not be as sad?"
He sighed, returned the gold coins to her, and handed her an apple.
Su Cheng: "Is this some local custom?"
Charles shook his head slightly. "I grew this in the back mountain... I do not know why, but it has been very sour for the past few years. Yet this year, when you came, it suddenly became sweet."
Su Cheng was dumbfounded for a moment. She looked down at the fully ripe apple. It was an almost overwhelmingly vibrant red, its skin coated in a frost-like natural wax.
She could even smell the sweet aroma radiating from the flesh, mixed with the warmth of the sun.
Su Cheng: "I thought that since you have the blessing of the Ancient Gods, whatever you plant here would thrive."
Charles: "That is true, which is why those fruit trees are alive. I am not good at this; if they were planted anywhere else, they probably would have all died."
Su Cheng could not help but smile. "You know—"
"Go," Charles said. "If the Secret Cult knows someone like you is here, they will not just send a bandit group. The top experts in the church are very difficult to deal with."
With that, he vanished from where he stood.
Su Cheng: "Alright."
She found it hard to evaluate what kind of person the future God of Purity really was.
The teasing she had once done in front of the God of Envy was partly genuine, and partly said to curry favor.
But regardless, the current Mr. Wayne, perhaps, would still simultaneously feel that she was not all that kind and wonderful, yet could not help but care for her.
Su Cheng had long anticipated this situation, only thinking of heading back to Golden Amber City first to take a look.
That place was, after all, half a hometown to her. Comparatively speaking, it was familiar enough to easily blend into the environment, and perhaps she could gather more information.
She had once ridden a magical beast flying over the valleys, and now it was nothing more than a return trip in the opposite direction. Because she could use spatial magic to teleport, in a sense, the speed was even faster.
The spring mountains and plains overflowed with fresh green, the fields shone with the golden glow of new wheat, and streams sliced through the emerald plains, forming a bright silver ribbon winding down from the mountains.
After leaving Iron Cage Town, the terrain gradually flattened out. When she got tired of teleporting, she would stop to rest temporarily, staring blankly at the silhouettes of the distant mountains swaying under the azure sky.
On the outskirts of a town at the foot of a mountain, a bubbling, clear river flowed around it. By the river were several pegasi with snow-white coats.
They half-folded their pure white, full, and broad wings, the edges of their feathers shimmering with a pearl-like luster. Their hooves trod over the cobblestones by the riverbank, kicking up splashes of water.
A moment later, Su Cheng saw the people beside the herd of horses.
Two knight squires wearing black armor were wiping the gold ornaments on the saddles.
There were a few others standing a bit further away. Their black armor featured more intricate and gorgeous reliefs, clearly indicating an even higher status.
Right in the center of these people stood a tall, straight figure.
The man's silver braid hung down his back like frozen starlight on a winter night. His handsome profile was as calm as a painting in the sunlight.
He wore a magnificent battle robe, a cape draping from his shoulders. Gold and silver carvings snaked from his chest plate down to his greaves, further accentuating his heroic yet elegant posture.
A few seconds later, the silver-haired man turned his head and looked over.
Across a distance of over a hundred meters, his gaze crossed the rushing river and the lush bushes, looking toward the black-haired girl on the hillside.
Su Cheng met those magnificent eyes that were neither quite blue nor quite green.
